This review includes tonight and two revisit summaries (14th Dec 2012, 28th Dec 2012) at the end.

Just here with some friends for a dance – let’s check it out. Here we go!

Lights!

Cubic (Fridays) @ Space Nightclub (Sydney)

Background: The promoters previously closed two of their Friday events, I guess in order to combine the two crowds for tonight’s event . The name Cubic is most likely based on Club Cubic in Macau.

Essentials:Opening Hours:
Fridays 22:30 – 04:00AM

Address:
127 Liverpool st – enter via the second line to get your name marked off guestlist etc. Otherwise you may enter via the normal Shark Hotel line and walk in. After entering the Shark hotel floor, you may proceed to level 2 where Space Nightclub is. (The lift is preferably no longer in use by promoters)

Occurrence:
Tonight is the second week of opening, while the plan is to have this event on every Friday.

Dress Code / Door Policy:
There was no specific dress code requested by promoters – as a result casual was the minimum required to get in. T-shirts were ok and so were sneakers. Most guys though wore collared shirts with jeans / fancy shoes. Girls generally looked good as well with their going out dresses or whatever they are called.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
$25 for entry. $20 for guestlist entry for guys. Tonight was “ladies night” and all girls who “liked” the Facebook page got free entry before Midnight and discounted entry after midnight. In order to qualify for discounted / guestlist priced entry you were required to line outside to mark your name off and obtain the “VIP card”

Passouts:
No passouts before midnight.

Guestlist:
cubic@urbanagent.com.au / joe@infinityproductionz.com

Cloak Room:
$5 per item. On the expensive side.

Tonight:
Assessment Time: 11:30PM – 3:15AM

Outside Line:
None outside the venue. Inside the Shark Hotel entrance there was a short line of 10 people or so – the line moved pretty quickly at this time.

Always wanted to come here but I’ve always had something on Friday morning, until now..

Upstairs | Room 34B (12:15AM)

“Hot Damn!” at The Exchange Hotel [Q Bar (Upstairs)]

The Hot Damn! event is nestled within the complex that is The Exchange Hotel and is split over two areas of the Hotel – Q Bar and Spectrum. Spectrum hosts live bands up until midnight, while Q Bar, a few shops down, hosts DJs that play various styles of music, all night. Tonight’s review is solely based on Q Bar.

Opening Hours: Unknown – 5:00AMAddress: 44 Oxford St, Sydney. (Q Bar). It’s just a small doorway from the outside, can be easy to miss. Parking: Easy to find closeby parking on a Thursday night. We found a small car spot on the street behind. Venue Website:http://www.exchangehotel.bizEvent Website:http://www.fb.com/hotdamnsydneyPromoters:http://www.destroyalllines.comOccurrence: Every Thursday since late 2006Dress Code / Door Policy: there is no strict policy. People in costumes, singlets, shorts, hats.. anything that a classy club would ban is allowed here, even hairstyles that make you look like a member of One Direction. Tonight’s theme was End of Semester, so many collared shirts and ties were to be displayed. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $20, but if you know one of the promoters names or send a guestlist you get in for $15. Guestlist: toby@destroyalllines.comCloak Room: $3 all items. So good.

Heaven @ Helm Bar, Darling Harbour SydneyAssessment Time: 12:40AM – 3:00AM Opening Hours: 8:00PMPM – 3:00AM Lockout: Unknown Address: 1 wheat road, darling harbour. It is located between Pontoon Bar and Sydney Aquarium along the water. You can hear the music blasting out as you approach. There is no real easy way to get there by car, you simply have to walk it. Venue Website:http://helmbar.com.auEvent Website:http://www.facebook.com/HeavenSaturdaysPromoter Website:http://www.goldlabelevents.com.auOccurrence: Every Saturday since it opened 2011. Tonight is their 1st year of survival. Hurrah! Always a good sign.

Outside Line: No line when we got in at 12:40AM Dress Code / Door Policy: Hats allowed. No dress code was encouraged at the door, but most people dressed sensibly. There were some hen’s nights and birthdays here so there were some girls and guys dressed really well mixed with people dressed casually who were more laid back. The website stated that no sport shoes or t-shirts/hoodies were allowed. All I can say is that there were no hoodies. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 for us as a full charge. This was a big step up from the $15 they had when they first opened. Anyway, you can still get $15 entry if you submit a guestlist and arrive at Helm Bar before 11PM. Guestlist: submit to info@goldlabelevents.com.au . Birthday packages available for guestlists of 25+ people.

Bad Party / Club Wings @ Cheers Nightclub, SydneyAssessment Time: 11:50PM – 12:40AM Opening Hours: 11:00PM – 4:00AM Lockout: Unknown Address: 561 George St. Cheers Nightclub is underground, separate from Cheers Bar on the ground floor. Venue Website:http://www.cheersbar.com.auEvent Website:http://www.cheersbar.com.au/sydneycheersPromoter Website: Unknown, but it is definitely one of the Korean promoters. Occurrence: Every Thursday since 2011. It was called “Bad Party”, with the idea that “Bad” implied naughty-ness, but that has immensely backfired in a contextual sense, and because of this, the promoters have changed the event name to “Club wings” this year. You can tell the promoters are the same, when the club stamp on my arm says “Bad Party”. These promoters are living off a shoestring. Outside Line: There was no line. Just 3 pretty girls in Angel Wings. Admittedly they swayed my decision to go inside here tonight. Damn me for having a mindset of a man.Dress Code / Door Policy: No hats allowed in here. Other than that, you were allowed to pretty much wear casual clothing within reason. Most guys wore collared shirts. The girls were pretty casual as well tonight Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $5 entry. Previous weeks girls got free entry before 1AM but it is unknown if that was applied tonight. Guestlist: N/A Inside: Walk downstairs underground to enter the one room of the nightclub. On the left wall is the bar. On the right wall are TV screens playing the video clip to whatever song is being played at the moment. The other two walls are lined with lounges. The DJ booth is on the far right wall. Right smack in the middle is the wooden dancefloor, with the rest of the area being carpeted. The floor is approximately 7×7 metres. Cloak Room: None Bar Prices / Line: I didn’t drink tonight. Water can be had separately. Bathroom Facilities: On a weekend the bathroom usually reeks like urine and vomit. Thankfully tonight nobody has done such things, and they are acceptable for a Thursday night. That’s right folks, it doesn’t smell like piss tonight.Eviction Count: None spotted DJs: DJ Nick Kim all night Music Style: Purely Top 40 and classic party hits. Full music songs are played, with the associated video clip played on TV screens around the walls. The DJ doesn’t really have much flexibility in this case in terms of mixing – being forced to really only be creative when transitioning between songs, which isn’t the hardest thing to do. Even my mother could do it. I felt sorry for the DJ, he looked like he was over these pop songs.

Hello… New Zealand! Christchurch is where we are tonight, and since the earthquakes of 2010/2011, the entire city nightlife has disappeared. Imagine Sydney’s CBD, Kings Cross, and Darling Harbour decimated and fenced off because of an earthquake. That is the equivalent of what has happened here. The former city is rebuilding, and pretty much if you wanted to go for a dance, you have to make do with DJs playing at local bars or go out in the suburbs. It is quite sad.

Anyway, I asked a foreign backpacker where the place to be is at on a Thursday night. “The Rimming Bull”, he proclaims! I’m sure in proper English that meant “The Running Bull”, which is, coincidentally is across the street from where we rented our hotel. So much win! Let’s check it out!

Assessment Time: 11:10PM – 12:45AM Opening Hours: Open during the day as a restaurant / Grill – 12:45AM Lockout: Unknown, but there was one a lockout at 12:30 when I checked Address: 1 Riccarton Road, Riccatron, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand. Map: http://g.co/maps/njtg8Venue Website:http://www.runningbull.co.nzEvent Website:http://www.facebook.com/TheRunningBullBarPromoter Website: Self Promoted by the venue Occurrence: Every Thursday. DJ events also available on Fridays and Saturdays here Outside Line: 2 people in front but we were in within seconds. We had to use our passports to be accepted entry. The drivers licenses were not accepted. Dress Code / Door Policy: Boys are pretty casual, with a handful with collared shirts with jeans. Girls in most part did wear their going out dresses and heels for a dance here. It is encouraged for guys to wear collared shirts and to not smell like B.O, and for girls to wear dresses. (According to the facebook page anyway) Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free all night. Guestlist: None Inside: Walk into the bar / dining area where tables and stools are aplenty. Bar is at the back opposite wall. This are has about 4-8 tables. To your left are some lounge spaces for 10 or so people. On the right is the “dance room” is how it is best described. It really is just a walled off room from the rest of the bar, where you can walk in and suddenly you are in a rectangular box to hold maybe 100 or so people where there are lights and a podium. Cloak Room: None Bar Prices / Line: Didn’t drink. Bathroom Facilities: Pretty clean. Eviction Count: None spotted DJs: Sole DJ tonight. No song repeats thank god. Music Style: Mostly Top 40, RnB and probably after 12:15ish the reggae / some other esoteric music was put on. Total mood killer, but it was apparently approaching closing time so that was how it was done. Crowd: A mix of Christchurch locals and backpackers such as Marty and I, with the Irishman and his friends as well. But definitely a majority would be locals. Ages varied but mostly we are dealing with a young crowd – teenagers, low 20’s.

Everyone is working on Friday, except for me and another unemployed friend. So let’s go clubbing on Thursday and spend what little money we have left – always a great idea! So headed to Kings Cross and looked for some places to go. Trademark looked dead when we entered, so we changed to Sapphire Lounge. It looked pretty dead as well from outside, but it was smaller, so it might be a cosier atmosphere. That’s the thinking anyway. Paid our cover charge and in we went – here we go!

Crowd: 12:15AM

Flaunt @ Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross, Sydney (Under new promoters)Assessment Time: 11:25PM – 2:05AM Opening Hours: 9:00PM – 4:00AM (according to Facebook anyway) Lockout: Unknown Address: 2 Kellet St, Sydney, Kings Cross. http://g.co/maps/ex79jVenue Website:http://www.sapphirelounge.com.auPromoter Website:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Postman-Productions/193173984047360 (This event is no longer run by Urban Agent) Occurrence: Every Thursday night. Formerly run by Urban Agent the past few years, we have actually stumbled upon the “re-launch” of the “Flaunt” nights, this time run under the new promotions company Postman Productions. Tonight was the second week of “Flaunt” under Postman Productions.Outside Line: No line as we entered.Dress Code / Door Policy: Smart Dress Code is encouraged. Hats are allowed in here. Most girls wear pretty dresses, and guys in general are looking good. There are some suits and casually dressed people as well (i.e. me), but this was no issue in getting us through the door. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $15 if not on guestlist. According to poster, entry is free before 10:30. Unsure if guestlist is required.Guestlist: According to the promotional poster send emails to djtikelz@hotmail.com for birthday packages. Yes, it is the DJ. Inside: The entrance is on Kellet St, just around the corner from the kebab store, its quite easy to miss. It’s a small entrance to a small club. Walk in past the cloak room to enter the main room, where there is a bar on the left manned by 2 staff. On the right are 3 separate lounge areas as well as one behind you to seat about 8 people each.

Despite it looking quite normal and possibly drab during the day, it has been reported that there are lines of people who wait to come inside here, with cover charge. For the first time in ages, I have nothing on Thursday, which means I can finally visit this place out. So here we go!

Dancing with some of the other shuffling locals upstairs

Wednesdays (Summer Launch Party) @ The Eastern Hotel, Bondi JunctionAssessment Time: 11:23 – 3:00AM Opening Hours: Open early in the day – Unknown (4AM ++?) Lockout: 2AM Lockout Address: 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction, Sydney. It’s a bit hard to find if you haven’t been before. It’s on the far end of Wesfields away from the station. Google maps: http://g.co/maps/rachxVenue Website:http://www.theeastern.com.au , http://www.facebook.com/TheEasternWednesdays Promoter Website: Appears to be self promoted Occurrence: Every Wednesday Outside Line: 24 people was the headcount upon lining up. However the line was pretty fast, and we got in within 10 minutes. I like that. Dress Code / Door Policy: A lot of people wore caps tonight – these were mainly the people who came for the hip hop music tonight. Spotted also were fedoras and cowboy hats. Others wore casual, smart casual and whatever is fashionable. It was a mix of everything here. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $10 flat entry. Free before 10PM if on the guestlist Guestlist: wednesdays@theeastern.com.au Inside: This place is made up of 4 levels. The ground floor is the regular bar and NOT OPEN tonight, while the 3 levels above are the club levels for tonight: (1) Island Bar: Half the room is sat by the Island Bar, to the left half of the room. On the far left are booths to sit down away from the music. Theres a long light overhead along the rim of the room. The music / dancefloor is on the right hand side to hold 100 or so people. DJ booth is very small and along the same level as the dancefloor. (2) Main Bar: On level 2, this place strikes you with the black and white patterned wallpaper as you walk in. The main bar is on the far end opposite you and is the length of the dancefloor (~20 people long) . To the left is a larger DJ booth, with lounges in the far left corner. In front is the large dancefloor for about 200 or so people. To the right are a smoking room, two further separate lounge rooms and a smaller bar manned by a single bartender. This is the biggest level by far. (3) Pacifica: Another flight of stairs to take you upstairs to what appears to be an Asian restaurant lounge during the day. It’s very classy. Plush lounges, ambient lighting, high ceiling, portraits of what look like Geishas on the walls, Medium – Small dancefloor for 50-70 people. At the back is the bar, a small one manned by 2 staff.